Silfverberg on his way here

BRUCE GARRIOCH
Ottawa Sun
Jakob Silfverberg is en route to North America.
After winning the Swedish championship with Brynas Thursday, the Senators top prospect will pass up on a chance to play for the country at the world championships and will join Ottawa next week.
Swedish coach Par Marts said Silfverberg will join the Senators immediately. He will fly to Ottawa Sunday and it’s conceivable he could available if there is a Game 7 Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
Silfverberg, 21, was the captain after Bryan after former Senators winger Andreas Dackell was forced to retire because of a knee injury. The youngster was the Swedish league’s MVP with 54 points in 40 games.
Thursday he was named the MVP of the playoffs. He would be eligible to play in the NHL playoffs because he is under contract to the Senators. That decision could depend on how long captain Daniel Alfredsson is out.

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5 comments

That’s great that Silferberg has chosen to join the Sen’s instead of playing in the World Championships. It seems another year in the SEL benefited him big time. Especially for confidence. I’m looking forward to seeing him play.

He also broke Alfie’s league record for goals in a playoff year by scoring his 13th in the clincher (20 points in 17 games). It should be noted that Alfie had the record since 2005 when he played back home in the lockout year…he was already a well established NHL star.

Watching some of the highlights you can get a real appreciation for the Silfver Surfers shot…it is lightning (Stamkos anyone?) quick and deadly accurate…I have to believe he is going to be a star here with the speed and shot he has and even the great Peter Forsberg has said he believes he will be an amazing NHL player. That said, I don’t see him being thrown to the wolves but I can certainly see him getting some practice time and then being inserted during the second round.

So game 4 made up for me having to miss game 3…what a total team effort and reinforces my belief that so far this series the Sens have been the better team. King Henrik was very good again but nobody was going to stop that super snipe from Turris…that was just a sick, dirty shot.

Konopka is playing fantastic, the D have stepped up their games and we are winning despite not getting much production from our star players. I would have thought Spezza and Michalek would have had more of an impact by now but I also believed and still believe that the Sens have some of the best bottom 6 forwards going, certainly more well rounded than the NYR bottom 6.

Love what I am seeing and fully expect to be in the stands watching the Sens close out the Rangers on Monday night.

GO SENS GO!!!!

Oh ya, and the crowd has been electric…I almost got shivers during the TV time-out when not a soul sat down and everyone cheered their lungs out…GO Sens GO ringing through the concourse at the 2nd intermission and then the energy after Turris scored…awesome.

I think it is great that the kid is coming to Ottawa and he most certainly had an outstanding year, I just hope fans don’t put unrealistic expectations on him. I remember T’Guy after his brilliant career with the Ramparts and how disappointed the fickle fans at the Forum were for a couple of years. Even after he scored 50 goals his first time I recall his wife responding to a the question “how do you feel about his great year”, she said she was worried because the expectations would be that much greater. The SEL is much different than the NHL.

Maclean will be the best to guage Silfverberg’s ability to make a contribution in the ’12 playoffs, but would it be a stretch to suggest he couldn’t do more than Butler? I do not understand that he might play only if Alredsson doesn’t.

I share your enthusiasm about Silverberg, but I think it’s very important not to raise expectations. He’s still very young and will need to adjust and make mistakes.

There are certain negative people that are just waiting to pounce on him (I can just see Visitor drafting some posts already if he doesn’t do anything right away). Nobody eats the young like theses guys.

But I do think they should put him, Stone, Hoffman, Petersson or any other top prospect in right away and let them get playoff experience. In the big picture this is still the first year of the rebuild. I hope they’re still thinking longterm.

You are right Dennis and I am not going to expect anything right away.

There have only been a handful of players come over from the SEL and be a force right away. I do however believe he has the skill set to be a very productive player in the NHL and the fact he has some size on his side is a big plus as well. I was absolutely shocked that Stone got in the game last night but what a hunch it was! He looked nervous on his first shift but then what a pass to Spezza!

Looking forward to tomorrow night and finishing them off…

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About the authors

Bruce Garrioch is an award-winning journalist and a must-read in the hockey community. A Day-Oner at the Ottawa Sun, Garrioch is one of the top sports journalists in the country, covering the Senators since their return to the NHL in 1992-93. A 2009 winner of an Ontario Newspaper Award for his coverage of the Dany Heatley saga, Garrioch has a strong ability to break news and brings inside information with his Sunday NHL column, one of the most popular in the country. It is read by GMs, players and coaches who want the inside scoop. Garrioch has covered the 2008 Stanley Cup final for Sun Media, the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and 2006 Games in Turin, Italy. Mainly, Garrioch has the pulse of the Ottawa Senators. If people want to know what's happening they turn to him to get the info on contracts, negotiations, signings, trades and, of course, games.

Don Brennan is a Day 1 employee of the Ottawa Sun. He has spent the majority of his 23 years as a sports reporter/columnist, covering the Senators since their return to the NHL in 1992, and prior to that writing about the Rough Riders, 67's and other sports. Brennan also wrote a Page 6 column in the Sun for nine months. A native of North Bay, Brennan moved to attend Centennial College in 1978. He remained in Toronto for a decade, working first as a freelancer, than an editor with the Toronto Sun. Brennan has lived in Ottawa full time ever since.

Don Brennan and Bruce Garrioch are Ottawa's all-star hockey writing duo, and will be regularly contributing to Off The Posts.

Their combined experience covering local, national and international hockey means they have the sources to get the inside information on the Senators and the NHL which might not be available to others.

Check back often for notes, quotes and commentary. They might even disagree with each other once in awhile.